Protect South Portland wins environmental award

SOUTH PORTLAND — Protect South Portland received the Judy Bond Memorial Award for its effort to curb the transfer of tar sands within the city via Portland Pipe Line Corp.’s infrastructure.

The award was presented March 15 at the 28th annual Local Environmental Action Conference at Northeastern University in Boston.

Protect South Portland was founded in early 2013 by concerned citizens who opposed Portland-Montreal Pipe Line’s intentions to export tar sands through the city.

In late 2013, the group organized a citizen-outreach campaign to support the Waterfront Protection Ordinance, which narrowly failed in a referendum. It paved the way for the Clear Skies Ordinance, which was passed into law by the City Council in July 2014 and is now being challenged in court by Portland Pipe Line.

The Judy Bond Memorial Award is named for a West Virginia environmental activist who opposed mountaintop mining. Bond died of cancer in January 2011.